Featured Student Organization: Inclusion in the Chemical Sciences
by Michaela Gustaitis, graduate student
Inclusion in Chemical Sciences (InCS) had an exciting and eventful Academic Year 2022-23! As an organization, we hosted and attended numerous outreach and social events and had a great time engaging with different members of the community.
Every summer, InCS organizes a mentorship network where incoming first-year PhD students are paired with older graduate students to answer questions and help with their transition into grad school and living in Seattle. This past year, our mentorship network consisted of 36 mentees and 30 mentors! InCS also organized a paint night for mentors and mentees to get together and de-stress. Beyond the mentorship network events, InCS also hosted other social events like our ice cream social to kick off the school year and a joint bowling night with the Chemistry Grad Club.
InCS has also been busy this year with outreach! We participated in “Introduce a Girl to Green Technology,” where we presented a demonstration on pH-dependent color changes in cabbage juice for hundreds of young students and scientists. We also participated in the Echo Lake Elementary School Science Night where we presented two demonstrations for students and community members.
Finally, in May 2023, we hosted our annual lecture and invited activist scholar Sarah Sam to give a talk titled “Choosing Your Institutional Legacy.” InCS officers had the opportunity to have lunch and chat with Sarah. After the seminar, there was a reception where attendees were able to mingle and speak with Sarah.
Overall, we had a fantastic year and are looking forward to more opportunities to advance our organization’s goals next year!